Wolfpack Finishes Raleigh Relays With 4 Event Wins, Good Overall MarksNC State head coach Rollie Geiger was pleased with his teams' performances in the two-day event held at NC State's Paul Derr Track.

RALEIGH, N.C. - At the end of the Raleigh Relays, the annual track and field meet held at NC State's Paul Derr Track, Wolfpack head coach Rollie Geiger looked back at the results and was pleased with the individual performances turned in by his men's and women's teams.

The Wolfpack won four individual events, including senior Kwame Boatwright's victory in the men's triple jump on Saturday afternoon. More importantly for Geiger, however, was that a handful of athletes posted marks and times in just the third week of the outdoor season that will likely qualify them for the NCAA Regional qualifier in late May.

"That's a bunch for this early in the season," Geiger said.

And two of the Wolfpack's top distance runners, All-Americans Ryan Hill (in cross country and indoor 3,000 meters) and Andrew Colley (cross country), didn't compete in the meet, other than a short pacing run by Colley, who is coming back from surgery a little more than a month ago.

Boatwright's mark of 50-feet, 2-inches on Saturday should get him there and Nathaniel Williams, who had a career-best throw of 189-feet, 1-inch on Friday, also posted a regional-worthy mark. Junior Kris Kornegay-Gober, the ACC indoor champion in the high jump, broke the meet record with a leap of 7-feet, 3-inches in his event.

Women's jumpers Karimah Shepherd and Jazueline Daniels were both over 39 feet in the long jump on Saturday, finishing behind Wolfpack volunteer assistant and school record holder Demiracle Washington, who won the event as an unattached competitor with a mark of 40-feet, 11-inches.

Three of the Wolfpack women's throwers all turned in strong performances, with Brittany Hampton winning the women's discus throw and senior Lawanda Henry and redshirt freshman Tremanisha Taylor also posting strong marks in the shot put and the hammer throw.

The Wolfpack men's and women' distance runners were also strong throughout the meet. On Saturday, sophomore Kenyetta Iyevbele and senior Tiayonna Blackmon were fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 800 meters, with times that will be close to the regional qualifying mark.

Juniors Erin Mercer and Brian Himelright both posted strong times in finishing third in the women's and men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, and freshman Joanna Thompson was ninth in the top section of the 5,000 meters, finishing ninth with a time of 16:19.69. Both junior Andie Cozzarelli and redshirt freshman Laura Hoer also finished in the top 15 in the fastest section.

"Our throwers performed well, our jumpers performed well and our distance runners performed well," Geiger said. "I think several of these marks will get our athletes into the regional championships and to get to nationals, you first have to get to regionals."

Geiger and his team will continue to prepare for their next big event, the ACC Championships, slated for April 19-21 in Charlottesville, Va.

The Wolfpack men's and women's teams will disperse to three different meets next weekend, heading to the Florida Relays in Gainesville, Fla., the Duke Relays in Durham and the Cardinal Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.